More than anything else, perhaps, it was abstraction that most indisputably made modern art modern. A century ago, artists in Germany, France, Russia, and Italy first began abandoning representation. Soon thereafter, painters throughout Europe and in America would be experimenting with abstraction. Artists with work in this comprehensive and groundbreaking exhibition include Kandinsky, Kupka, Picabia, Delaunay, Duchamp, Mondrian, Malevich, and Marsden Hartley. In addition to paintings, drawings, and sculptures, the show includes films, photographs, music, and works from other disciplines. 11 West 53d St., 212-708-9400, www.moma.org

“Cézanne and the Past”

Museum of Fine Arts

Budapest

Through Feb. 13

“I want to make of Impressionism something solid and lasting like the art in the museums,” Paul Cézanne once said. This exhibition examines his relationship to tradition, with more than 80 of his works and several dozen from his artistic predecessors. Dózsa György út 41, 011-36-1-469-7100, www.szepmuveszeti.hu

“Charlie Brown and the Great Exhibit”

Museum of Science and Industry

Chicago

Through Feb. 18

The career of cartoonist Charles Schulz and his most famous creation, the comic strip “Peanuts,” are the subject of this extensive retrospective. A highlight is a reproduction of Schulz’s drawing studio. 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive, 773-684-1414, www.msichicago.org

“David-Apollo”

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C.

Through March 3

The museum is showing Michelangelo’s famed sculpture, which is on loan from Florence’s Museo Nazionale del Bargello. It hasn’t been shown in Washington since 1949. 4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, 202-737-4215, www.nga.gov

“Between Orient and Occident: Treasures of the Kremlin From Ivan the Terrible to Peter the Great”

Dresden State Art Collection

Dresden, Germany

Through March 4

On display are some 140 objects from Moscow’s most celebrated site. They include silver, jewels, textiles, and arms. Taschenberg 2, 011-49-351-49-14-2000, www.skd.museum/en

“ ‘Star Wars’ Toys”

Museum of Decorative Arts

Paris

Through March 17

Much more than a movie series, George Lucas’s sci-fi film epic is a treasure trove of spinoffs: dolls, costumes, models, video games, stuffed animals, action figures. Some 400 of them are on display here. 107 rue de Rivoli,011-33-1-44-55-57-50, www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/english-439/

“A Bigger Splash: Painting After Performance”

Tate Modern

London

Through April 1

How did the emergence of performance art affect the practice of painting? This extensive exhibition addresses that question. Artists surveyed include Jackson Pollock, David Hockney, Nikke de Saint Phalle, and Cindy Sherman.
Bankside, 011-44-20-7887-8888, www.tate.org.uk

“Toulouse-Lautrec: Paris and the Moulin Rouge”

National Gallery of Australia

Canberra

Through April 2

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s vivid, vital relationship to the French capital and cabaret life is examined through paintings, drawings, and posters. Parkes Place, 011-61-2-6240-6411, www.nga.gov.au

“Moment – Le Corbusier’s Secret Laboratory”

Moderna Museet

Stockholm

Jan. 19-April 18

This very thorough overview of the architect’s career includes paintings, drawings, sculpture, tapestries, furniture, architectural renderings, building models, books, and photographs. Slupskjulsvägen 7, 011-46-8-5202-3503, www.modernamuseet.se/en/Stockholm/

Perot Museum of Natureand Science

Dallas

With a $185 million building designed by Thom Mayne and Morphosis, this new museum (it opened in November) boasts 11 exhibition halls and features such scientific areas as outer space, paleontology, geology, meteorology, ecology, and medicine. 1318 South 2nd Ave., 214-428-5555, www.perotmuseum.org